Sandra Stiner Pleads Guilty to $702K Fraud & Identity Theft

Sandra Stiner, 65, of Ladysmith, Wisconsin, has admitted to stealing $702,351 from the Rusk County Health and Human Services Department through a nine-year-long fraud scheme involving fake invoices and stolen identities. Stiner, who worked for the agency for 42 years before retiring in January 2019, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and criminal asset forfeiture in federal court.

As part of her scheme, Stiner fabricated invoices from a nonexistent home-based therapy company called R.Y.P., claiming the organization provided intensive in-home autism services to two children who never received such care. Using the stolen name, taxpayer identification number, and founder’s identity from the legitimate R.Y.P., she created a nominee Bank of America account on June 21, 2010, and forged the founder’s signature on direct deposit and IRS forms to funnel county payments directly into her control.

Stiner didn’t stop there. She hijacked the identity of a LaCrosse, Wisconsin CPA firm, forging financial statements and a letter to make her phony business appear credible. With these falsified documents, she tricked Rusk County into depositing $702,351 over nearly a decade—money that was supposed to fund vital social services for vulnerable children.

At her plea hearing before U.S. District Judge William M. Conley, Stiner admitted she used the stolen funds for personal luxuries and debts: $295,000 in credit card payments, $200,000 in cash advances, $50,000 on retail shopping, over $41,000 toward her mortgage, $18,000 on auto loans, and a jaw-dropping $20,000 on iTunes charges for the gambling app Big Fish Casino.

The fallout is severe. The wire fraud charge carries up to 20 years in federal prison. The aggravated identity theft charge mandates a consecutive two-year sentence. Stiner also agreed to a criminal asset forfeiture judgment of $702,351 and may lose substitute assets—including real estate, vehicles, boats, a camper, her pension, and household contents.

The case was investigated by the Rusk County Sheriff’s Office and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Graber is prosecuting. Sentencing is scheduled for November 4, 2020, at 1:00 p.m. before Judge Conley. This betrayal of public trust by a long-tenured county employee lays bare the rot that can fester when oversight fails.